Conventionally, radio receivers are used for audio stereo reproduction systems such as all-in-one stereo systems and separate stereo components, portable audio systems, car-mounted audio systems, and the like. The radio receiver receives and demodulates broadcast signals broadcast from a radio station and allows users to listen to programs and musical compositions.
On the other hand, the radio station publicizes various information about its programs on the Internet homepage. For example, the radio station sends broadcast signals to the audience, and provides it with musical composition information about broadcast musical compositions such as their titles and artist names as well as names and numbers of CDs that record the musical compositions.
There is proposed an audio reproduction apparatus (e.g., see Patent Document 1: Jpn. Pat. Appln. No. 2003-274302) as a client terminal having the radio reception function and the Internet connection function implemented in one system that simultaneously performs listening of radio programs and acquisition of musical composition information.
This audio reproduction apparatus allows a user to listen to a program from the audio reproduction apparatus and acquire musical composition information from associated information provision servers. The musical composition information includes titles, artist names, and the like of musical compositions that are broadcast in the program.
When listening to a radio program using the audio reproduction apparatus, a user may access a homepage concerning the radio program to acquire musical composition information about musical compositions broadcast in the radio program. However, the homepage may supply no service to provide musical composition information. In such case, the homepage displays a message such as “failed to acquire musical composition information” to the user.
Based on such message only, however, the user cannot determine the reason for failing to acquire the musical composition information, whether the network traffic is congested, whether there is no service of providing musical composition information after all, or whether the infrastructure or an associated information provision server fails. There have been problems of repeatedly sending requests to acquire the musical composition information, for example.